Home improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. credits cleanup efforts after Superstorm Sandy and its new pricing strategy for fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations, a sign that people are beginning to feel better about spending money on their homes as the housing market slowly recovers.

The retailer was trading close to its 52-week low even before Wednesday's disappointing quarterly report when earnings grew by less than 2 percent to $232.8 million, despite seeing net sales climb 15 percent to top $2.7 billion.

Economists say it will take a while to fully estimate the economic impact of the storm. But they believe the impact will be enough to lower the nation's gross domestic product, the broadest reading of the nation's economic activity, in the fourth quarter.

Home-improvement retailer Lowe's says it will close 20 underperforming stores in 15 states and cut 1,950 jobs in a move that it says will allow it to focus on more profitable locations. Ten locations were closed Sunday; the other 10 will close in a month.

"Never Stop Improving" is the tagline of Lowe's new branding strategy and TV ad campaign, which kicked off Monday. It's a slogan designed to impart the message that shoppers are in good hands at Lowe's, which will guide them through all stages of their home improvement journey.

Storms are always good for hardware-home improvement superstores, as droves of people stock up on supplies beforehand and work to repair any damage afterwards. If you want to try to profit from the wake of Hurricane Irene, the orange-aproned merchant is the one to turn to.

What does the current state, and the likely future, of the American real estate market mean for companies like Home Depot and Lowe's? We break down the numbers to see which (if either) is a good investment.